S7 | E73 Sounding the alarm on preventable maternal death, the loss of obstetric skills like vaginal breech birth, and reviewing the ARRIVE trial with Dr. Rohan D’Souza OBGYN, PhD.

We Go There Podcast

Trigger warning: We discuss maternal death during and after pregnancy, as well as problematic cesarean birth rates.

Dr. Rohan D’Souza is an obstetrician and associate professor with the departments of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and Health Research Methods, Evidence and Impact at McMaster University, Hamilton, Canada. He specializes in the care of pregnant women and gender-diverse people with medical disorders, and his research work is focused on reducing pregnancy-related adverse events. Dr. D’Souza has made it his mission to reduce pregnancy-related adverse events. Dr. D’Souza and Nikki explore the alarming statistics that may be missed and what kind of advocacy is needed to improve outcomes for women during and after pregnancy.

Dr. D’Souza Shares:

1. The CBC news article “Canada significantly undercounts maternal deaths, and doctors are sounding the alarm” - got a lot of attention. In your interview, you cited the importance of better maternal health monitoring systems to prevent avoidable deaths. The article stated that Canada undercounts the maternal mortality rate. Let’s talk about that.
2. Let’s talk about the increasing cesarean rates. We know they vary tremendously from provider to provider and hospital to hospital. What is the current data and trend over time? What kind of impact do you believe this trend has on maternal (in the short and long term?)? We know the age of a first-time mother is increasing, as well as body mass index - but is there something else going on here?
3. The lost skills of breech birth and forceps and how that is impacting C-section rates
4. What we need to know about the ARRIVE trial and how the data showing induction at 39 weeks reduces C-sections has been misinterpreted by many

Show Notes:

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*Warning- this podcast is completely unfiltered. If you are around young children, we suggest headphones.*